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TfL Rail
TfL Rail is the current name of the commuter railway line in London and its environs that serves the 14 stations on the Great Eastern Main Line from in central London to in Essex. It is operated by MTR Corporation (Crossrail) Ltd under contract to Transport for London (TfL), and forms part of the future Crossrail route from Shenfield to and Heathrow Airport. TfL Rail took control of the Liverpool Street to Shenfield "metro" service in May 2015. It will be re-branded as the Elizabeth line in December 2018 when the central underground section of the route opens. Between May 2016 and May 2017, TfL Rail carried over 47 million passengers on the Shenfield branch. History In June 2013 TfL announced that Arriva, MTR Corporation, Keolis/Go-Ahead Group and National Express Group had been shortlisted to bid for the concession to operate Crossrail, which was under construction. In July 2014 TfL awarded the contract to MTR, with a duration of eight years with an option to extend by an additional two years. MTR Corporation (Crossrail) Ltd was created as a new train operating company and took control of the "metro" service between Liverpool Street and Shenfield from the previous operator, Abellio Greater Anglia, in May 2015. The existing trains were re-painted in the TfL Rail livery, and appropriate branding, advertising and message boards were added at the 14 stations along the line. Every station is also staffed from first train to last of the day. In May 2018, TfL Rail took over the operation of the Heathrow Connect service between Paddington and Heathrow. Route The eastern (Shenfield) branch of the TfL Rail runs over the existing 32.5km of the track on Great Eastern Main Line from Liverpool Street to Shenfield. The future Crossrail route will retain the use of most of the track, except the portion between Liverpool Street and Stratford, where trains will use the new underground tunnels to connect to the central section of the route. The western (Heathrow) branch operates over part of the Great Western Main Line and the Heathrow tunnel between Paddington and Heathrow for 26.5km. Stations served or managed by TfL Rail: Services The typical Monday-Saturday off-peak service pattern is: Future services The schedule of the handover of services on the Crossrail route is as follows: Between Shenfield and Liverpool Street once the Crossrail brand has been introduced there will be at least 12 trains per hour at peak times and eight per hour during off-peak times. Rolling stock TfL Rail operations commenced with the existing fleet of rolling stock. These units will be replaced by 66 new trains built by the Canadian firm Bombardier Transportation. Shenfield Branch The eastern branch of TfL Rail consists of the long-serving Class 315 and Class 345 trains, whereas the Class 315 trains will gradually be withdrawn in favour of Class 345 trains. The Class 315 trains will continue to be maintained at the existing Ilford depot. The Class 345 trains will be maintained at a new depot at Old Oak Common. Heathrow Branch TfL Rail inherited five Class 360s from Heathrow Connect when it took over operations from 20 May 2018. These trains will be used to operate the existing half-hourly 2tph service to Heathrow while Class 345 units will initially supplement this with the half-hourly (2tph) service to Hayes and Harlington, a service formerly operated by Great Western Railway 387 units. Initially, the Class 345 units will run with 7 cars being extended to the full 9 car by mid-2019 after Shenfield services begin to serve Paddington. External links * * |- |- Category:Crossrail Category:Train operating companies Category:Railway companies established in 2015 Category:2015 establishments in England